#lisono

Misono once admitted to him to have a very complicated relationship with his legs. He likes them to be soft, he likes them to look nice; he also hates them with passion whenever they refuse to do what he wants or needs to do. His fingers, Misono told him, have never betrayed him except for the one time he dropped something in class and considered changing his name and fleeing country.

("Ah," Lily had said, "I think you discovered being human." Misono had only rolled his eyes.

"Which country?" Lily had asked then, and Misono had replied, "Germany has good health care, doesn't it?", which had made Lily smile and then later cry in his own room. What a smart Eve. What a horrible thing for a child to say.)

Fingers are for chess, for writing, for throwing books at Lily. And they look so pretty when Misono does it. Misono's fingers painted him the most adorable finger paintings Lily managed to pry out of Mikado's hands and now keeps like they're the most precious thing he owns. Misono's fingers give amazing massages and head scratches. Misono might be the first person to touch places on Lily's body that have been touched by others and time countless times, but Misono makes them seem new.

The day Misono touched Lily's tattoo for the first time, Lily felt like he was being born again. It's easy to say that every new Servamp-Eve connection feels like being reborn. It's true. There might be a science behind that. And surely, Lily isn't the same person with Misono he used to be in his first or second or even recent pact before that. It's about what Misono needs, and it's about... the mechanics behind being a vampire. He sees it in his brothers too, how they change with each Eve - like they still have the same color but you know it used to be a different shade the last time you saw it. Of course Lily also changed when he made the pact with Misono. Both the first and the second one. (Does it count? Does it matter?)

The tattoo marks something so much more important to Lily than any Servamp magic. It's a promise so much more important than what a magical pact can give him. ("Love me," the tattoo says, and even though it's not a question or an order, Misono had replied, "Yes".)

Misono has such nice hands, and Lily wants to scream and cry and come apart with something purer than light when Misono touches that tattoo. It doesn't matter if it's skin-to-skin or if it's just Misono brushing it through Lily's pants.

Lily is not brave enough to ask for it more often. But, to Misono's credit, his Eve is smart. Even now. Especially now.

Misono has nice hands but they're tainted now. There's marks all over them, marks that Lily didn't leave, marks that are nobody's fault but make Lily feel like a failure anyway. There are bruises and band-aids and remains of medical procedures. All necessary. Lily knows this.

Lily hates this.

The worst is over now, but that's so easy to say, isn't it? His pretty Eve all marked by the hospital, his pretty Eve all broken apart, his pretty Eve all visible in the worst way possible.

Lily never wanted to, never needed to, touch him this badly. It's selfish. He needs to make sure Misono isn't an illusion his mind made up and now refuses to let go of.

Lily needs... Lily wants...

"Come here," Misono says, and Lily does because he loves him.

"Closer," his Eve insists. "You have to be very close for that. It's a magic trick."

Lily steps closer. Misono lifts one of his beautiful, tainted hands, and that's when he smiles, and that's when Lily thinks "Oh no" and "I will do something very undignified" and "he knows he knows he knows".

"Here," Misono says, his fingertips grazing Lily's arm first, his jacket, whatever part his Eve can reach without falling out of the hospital bed. Then his fingers wander down, to a spot that means more to Lily than any other part of his body. The tattoo. Hidden.

Misono doesn't touch it immediately. He's waiting for permission, as he always does.

Lily nods. Lily nods and smiles and cries when Misono's fingers graze the tattoo. It's not very dignified. It's not dignified at all.

"All better now?" Misono asks, and he shouldn't be the one asking but Lily nods anyway.

"Once I can stand up again, I'm going to fuck you," his Eve promises, which is somehow even worse because now Lily wants to laugh.

"Is that a threat?" he asks.

Misono shrugs. "It's something to look forward to. If you want."

"I do," Lily breathes.

"Good. And now I need you to get some coffee and look a little bit less like we just had full on hospital sex."

"Understood," Lily whispers. When Misono pulls his fingers back, his tattoo burns with the ghost of his touch.